Abstract: The shear strength and compressive volumetric strain are two key parameters which control the mechanical behaviors of the frozen soil-structure interface. A large-scale multifunctional direct shear apparatus is first designed and manufactured, and then used to determine the mechanical properties of the frozen soil-structure interface. Based on the experimental results, the principles of continuum damage mechanics are employed to develop a shear strength and compression damage model, which can be used to describe the mechanical behavior of frozen soil-structure interface. In the proposed model, the conditions of uniform strain, vanishing elastic zone and uncoupled elastic strain are assumed, and the ratio of irreversible volumetric strain to the maximum irreversible strain is used as a damage factor. Comparison of simulated and experimental results shows that the proposed model yields good results.

Key words: frozen soil, interface, damage model, shear strength, compression volumetric strain